(Economic Observation) How to build "new infrastructure"? The National Conference will set the tone: focus on market input
China News Agency, Beijing, April 28 (Reporter Liu Yuying) China has launched a new round of "new infrastructure" investment tide. The executive meeting of the State Council held on the 28th clarified the development path.
In March, many provinces announced huge infrastructure investment plans, including traditional infrastructure and new infrastructure. According to incomplete statistics, the scale has exceeded 40 trillion yuan (RMB, the same below).
CCID think tank's "New Infrastructure" White Paper predicts Guangdong Province's "new infrastructure" investment. It is estimated that by the end of 2022, Guangdong's digital infrastructure investment will be close to 450 billion yuan, and the digital economy will reach 7 trillion yuan.
Against the background of the epidemic, where huge funds come from has become a direct problem facing the launch of new infrastructure.
Previously, there were different views on investment channels. There are views that should be dominated by fiscal funds, others that come from local debt, and others that rely on market-oriented operations, rely on social capital, private capital.
The executive meeting of the State Council made it clear: insist on focusing on market investment, support the participation of multiple entities in the construction, and strengthen government guidance and support.
Luan Qun, director of CCID Think Tank ’s Policy and Regulations Institute, said that “new infrastructure” is China ’s development direction for industrial upgrading and digital transformation. He believes that the government's guiding and supporting role is mainly reflected in the top-level planning, building a public service platform, and creating a good business environment.
In January of this year, China implemented the "Optimization of Business Environment", and in March it issued the "Opinions on the Construction of a More Perfect Factor Market Allocation System and Mechanism." Luan Qun believes that the "new infrastructure" construction takes the market as the main body, and these documents reflect the same development ideas.
In fact, in many areas of the new infrastructure, the market players are already investing. For example, in the field of network construction, investment has always been made by basic telecommunications companies, and financial funds have only provided a small amount of subsidies for universal services. In 2020, China's three major telecom operators are expected to invest 200 billion yuan in 5G.
In terms of cloud computing, Alibaba, Tencent, and the three major telecom operators have all created public clouds. Alibaba Cloud also recently announced that it will add 200 billion yuan in new infrastructure over the next three years for R & D of major core technologies such as cloud operating systems, servers, and chips. In terms of industrial Internet, the current large-scale industrial Internet platforms are also built by enterprises.
However, investment in innovation and technology infrastructure is huge, and how to invest at home and abroad is a problem. In terms of 5G network investment alone, the performance of basic telecommunications companies has been declining, and the energy consumption of 5G networks is much higher than 4G, which also faces investment dilemmas. Therefore, some experts put forward ideas such as the establishment of 5G funds and the introduction of equipment business capital in network construction.
The executive meeting of the State Council clearly supports the participation of multiple entities in the construction of new infrastructure. Ren Zeping, chief economist of the Evergrande Group and dean of the Economic Research Institute, previously stated that for new entities, the market and enterprises should be allowed to do more, and the government should provide support for fiscal and taxation, finance, and industrial policies; Financing methods, such as multi-level capital market, venture capital, PPP and other financing methods can be adopted.
The executive meeting of the State Council also proposed that financial institutions be encouraged to innovate and strengthen services.
In addition to investment, the executive meeting emphasizes creating demand. This includes promoting industrial upgrading and the development of intelligent manufacturing, accelerating the development of online office, remote education, telemedicine, Internet of Vehicles, smart cities and other applications.
Luan Qun said that the epidemic has accelerated the development of the online economy and put forward more urgent demands for the new infrastructure. (Finish)